The Adventure Begins

June 16^th

Day one has finally arrived and we gathered at Dad’s condo where we all clamored into a small limo bus to travel to the airport together in style.  Errol, the driver was shocked at the amount of luggage 10 people can bring on vacation. As a person who never brings more than a backpack or carry-on, I felt the same, but better to be prepared, I guess.  In fact, having the option of one free checked bag proved to be more stressful for me than one might think.  I ended up just throwing everything that I felt was season appropriate, not a big deal until you need to factor in shoes. And the fact that it was going to be over 30 degrees every day for at least a week.  Yikes! I don't have that much clothing and it's Europe! Fancy- no?

Anyhow, Gus and I arrived at Dad’s condo with time to spare and I parked my car in the underground and hopped into the bus with everyone else.  Just as the driver was about to leave Gus asked me if I had my carry one (with my passport) and I realized that I had left it in the car.  Gus typically checks and double checks everything, which no longer makes me nuts, since it’s just something that brings him comfort.  However, this time, had he not mentioned it, I can’t even imagine how I would solve that problem at the airport.  Thank you, Gus!

Crisis averted and everything went well after that and we all arrived at the airport in Paris, France.  As we were heading through security to board our connection to Bucharest David realized he had left his boarding pass on the last plane.  That took a bit of time to sort, but not as long as it took security to sort through Debbie not declaring her tablet, then Debbie not declaring her e-reader, then Debbie not declaring her duty-free vodka. Uggh…

All went smoothly on our next leg to Bucharest however….. Chris didn’t get his luggage.  It seemed that the smaller plane that we boarded didn’t have enough capacity, so they just decided not to load his large suitcase.  As of 30 hours later, he still has no luggage.  He has handled it like a chap though, he’s just rolling with it…. for now.

Our transfer from the airport to the ship was a very comfy tour bus, just for us.  Our driver and guide navigated the very busy streets of Bucharest and provided great insight into the evolution of the architecture of the city as it underwent changes from Ottoman rule into and away from Communism between 1909 -1989.  Finally, after about 1.5 hours, during which many of us slept, we could see the Danube River and Bulgaria on the horizon.  We had spent the better of 20 hours travelling and finally we were received aboard the AmaVerde cruise ship with style.  The crew lined the circular staircase to welcome our arrival and we all collapsed into our rooms for some brief alone time.

Our journey to the ship was not without challenges, with problems for Heather (almost), David, Debbie and Chris.  It’ll get better from here.

For Sip and Sail (happy hour) we gathered for an orientation and moved into the dining room where we were treated like special guests.  We were told that the small room off the main dining room would be ours for the duration of the trip as they understood that we were on a special family journey and were also commemorating our mom and dad’s beloved Margaret.  Dad spoke about family and thought that it was important that mom be remembered and be included spiritually in our trip.  The crew happily brought a chair for mom to table and Dad welcomed each of us, throughout our trip, to share memories of mom as we sit down at the end of our day and before we begin our meal.  Dad does such a great job of including Mom in this.  She would have loved watching us doing this epic trip together and seeing us all laughing and sharing the events of the day over dinner.

We left each other around 10:00 pm with everyone saying that they were likely going to forego excursions the next day and just take the day to chill.